Screen Name

The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first.

The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first.

This Facebook account is already present

Your Club account has been locked due to a breach of our Terms of Service. Please set up a new account in line with the Club rules. Review the Club Rules. Alternatively, you can email us by completing our contact form.

Please enter a valid email address

The email address/password you submitted is wrong or could not be found. Please try again. If you are not a member of the FIFA.com Club, please register first.

Overview

Beijing beckons for US, Canada

Reigning champions USA booked their place in Beijing last night
as Canada made history by qualifying for the Olympic Women's
Football Tournament for the first time.

The North American duo sealed their places with semi-final
victories over Costa Rica and Mexico respectively in the 2008
CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the final of
which they will now contest on Saturday evening at 7.30pm local
time.

Both last four clashes were played in front of a sell-out 22,800
crowd at Mexico's Estadio Olimpico Benito Juarez, and it was
the US who claimed the first of the finals berths with a Natasha
Kai-inspired 3-0 win over Costa Rica.

The 24-year-old forward struck twice, on 57 and 89 minutes, as
the Americans recovered from an unconvincing first-half showing to
cruise into the final, with a 72nd-minute Heather O'Reilly goal
sandwiched in between Kai's opportunistic brace.

Of course it was a great
feeling when we scored the goals, especially the first one, because
then we knew Costa Rica had to attack

USA coach Pia Sundhage

The victory, which maintains the holders' 100 per cent
record of qualifying for Olympic finals, was a near-replica of the
2004 preliminary semi-final, which the US won 4-0 in Costa Rica.
However, despite the seemingly resounding scoreline, head coach Pia
Sundhage criticised her side for showing a lack of intelligence
during the goalless first half.

She said: "
. But I have to say, we
have to be smarter, and I think we were smarter in the second half.
They were so tight centrally, so we needed to go wide. We needed to
use the flanks better and that's why we changed the system a
little bit, so we had Heather O'Reilly and Tobin Heath on each
side and I think that changed the game."

Hosts repelled as history is madeWhile the US were generally expected to see off the Costa
Rican challenge, Canada were tipped to find it considerably tougher
against a home side spurred on by the noisy backing of a partisan
crowd.

However, while the Mexicans had emerged triumphant at the
semi-final stage of the 2004 qualifiers, winning 2-1 to deny Canada
a spot in Athens, the tables were turned on this occasion thanks to
a solitary Melissa Tancredi goal.

I'm very happy for her and very happy with her performance in
this tournament

Canada coach Even Pellerud on Melissa Tancredi after another match-winning display from the striker

It was the striker's third match-winning goal in as many
games at the CONCACAF competition, and it earned a warm post-match
tribute from her coach. "
," said Even Pellerud. "She has
suffered from a lot of injuries and her fitness has always been
hurt by that, but she has really become a very smart striker and
she's getting stronger and fitter and smarter.

Goalkeeper Erin McLeod also kept her third straight clean sheet,
leaving Canada as the only team in the tournament not to have
conceded a goal, as Pellerud guided the country's women's
team to their first-ever Olympic finals.

"The whole back four was excellent, and Erin was very,
very focused," Pellerud said. "She played easily her best
game in this tournament today. That was a good day to
peak."